Gijs de Jong on Innovation in Football and the benefits of video referees

The use of new technologies is fast becoming a reality for the Dutch Football Federation, with the Netherlands having already trialed the use of video referees in a match between Feyenoord and Heerenveen. The Federation's Director of Operations, Gijs de Jong, was one of the guests at the Future of Football International Congress this week, of course to speak about Innovation in Football.

“It is good for the sport on the whole to hold a congress like this, where we can speak about the introduction of tecnologies. Referees speak about it as well and they look at it is as positive things. New technologies, like video referees, are good for the sport. When we started taking about it in the Dutch Federation, the discussion was not about if we should use it, but how we should use it", opened de Jong.

During his presentation, Gijs de Jong focused in on a wealth of data from a series of situations which can occur in a single match. In the 45 matches analysed, a total of 51 situations which influenced the result were verified, with a total of 12 bad decisions taken which could have been corrected with the help of a video referee. On average, just 11 seconds would be needed for the correct decision to be implemented. “The video referee doesn't give you 100% certainty, but it does give 95% to 97%."